The present invention relates to a device for automatically handling a plurality of samples on an individual basis.
A differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) is commonly employed as one method for thermally analyzing a material. Using DSC analysis, the difference in energy fed into a test material and a reference material are measured as a function of temperature, while the test and reference material are subjected, in an environmental (measuring) cell, to a controlled temperature program. In a conventional evaluation, using a DSC, a relatively small, encapsulated sample of the test material is placed in the measuring cell containing a sample of the reference material, and the measuring cell is then covered by a lid having a passageway to allow the escape of gas from the measuring cell. In addition, one or more thermal sleeves and/or protective hoods are generally placed over the measuring cell. Following the thermal evaluation, which generally takes about one hour, the insulating sleeve(s) and/or protective hood(s) are removed from the measuring cell and a new, encapsulated sample to be tested is exchanged for the previously tested sample of the test material.
Heretofore, this periodic sample transfer, a time consuming operation, has been conducted manually. Unfortunately, for various reasons (e.g., the required number of operations and the comparatively small size of the encapsulated sample), no one has been able to successfully automate the sample transfer procedure of a differential scanning calorimeter. For this reason it would be desirable to provide an effective and economical device for handling a number of samples over an extended period of time.